The DijonStock Digital Home Recording Support Forum

I Have had a problem recording my singer. Her vocal range starts out soft but later in the song she can get really loud and into the clipping range. Can I use one mic but record to 2 tracks? I was thinking that the second track would have the recording level about 10 db less than the first track. there is a feature on my mastering soft ware called cross fading. I would rather not use compression since it tends to change the sound of the recorded vocal and sounds somewhat artifical. Any thoughts?
thanks

Well this what compression is really for (among other things). Maybe you're being a little heavy handed with it? Or maybe the singer needs to work a little on her micing technique?

But anyway, you could just simply use the copy feature to copy the vocal to an additional track and work it from there.

good luck!

Does she wear headphones during recording? You might have her hold the mic in her hand then, so she'll tend to correct volume problems by changing the mouth-to-mic distance.

_________________

---

Don't judge the coffee by its cup.
The proof of the cheese is in the eating

Also, since the vocalist gets louder, you may need to watch out for tone quality changes. This could be a problem if you are expecting the vocal tone quality to stay consistent throughout the song.

After several rehersal take, you'll know where she peaks. You can then run the board and lower the faders to compensate.

_________________
GSMUSIC: Hey RZ, Im not no upper class american, the gear I own is what I have special to me. My car sucks, my house sucks, my nieghborhood sucks. Does yours RZ? Does it?

rz-land

thanks for all your replies. Next recording session is in a couple of days. Maybe I can get this thing right.

Uncle Bob is on the money here tele guy.

I'll go so far as to say you have never heard a production recording made in the last thirty or so years that didn't use compression.

I like the compressor on the G for overall compression at mastering, but I've found that a mic pre with a compression circuit is a great way to go for laying down vocals.

Try a ratio of say 5:1, with a threshold of 0 dB and medium attack and release times. If your singer doesn't 'hiss' too much a little boost at around 5K can help with the presence lost in compression but this can make sybillance (spelling?) more pronounced.

Hope this helps, good luck next session.

_________________
You can choose your friends. You can choose your line. But never let your friends choose your line.